Obama courts Burma as US pivots to Asia

President Barack Obama told Burma's impoverished people he had come to "extend the hand of friendship" during a six hour visit to the former pariah state.

The historic trip, aimed in part at countering China's growing influence in the region, marked the first visit by a sitting US president to the country.

Speaking directly to Burma's people, Mr Obama said that "over the last year and a half, a dramatic transition has begun, as a dictatorship of five decades has loosened its grip."

"Instead of being repressed, the right of the people to assemble together must now be fully respected," he told them. "Instead of being stifled, the veil of media censorship must continue to be lifted," he said.

Hundreds of people waving US flags, many of them children, lined the streets of Burma's largest city Rangoon to welcome Mr Obama, the first sitting US president to visit the country that is strategically located between two big regional powers China and India, and has been a close ally of Beijing for decades. Banners were strung over roads congratulating Mr Obama for the re-election victory less than two weeks ago.

The visit comes against a backdrop of increasing tension in Asia, as a more powerful China asserts its interests in the region.

Earlier, the Association of South-East Asian Nations produced a rare display of unity against China's sweeping claims to the South China Sea, calling for the first formal talks with Beijing over the dispute that has raised tensions and exposed deep divisions in the region.

In his speech in Burma, Mr Obama used himself as an example to promote government restrain and democracy: "I stand before you today as president of the most powerful nation on Earth, with a heritage that would have once denied me the right to vote," he said.

In private talks with reforming president Thein Sein and other Burma leaders, Mr Obama called for the release of about 200 political prisoners, follow through on promises to break military ties with North Korea and lead a national reconciliation process to address violence against the country's minority Muslim Rohingya and end other human rights abuses, US officials said.

Mr Obama also met Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung Sann Suu Kyi, a newly installed member of parliament, who spent 15 years under house and was the target of years of personal abuse by the former ruling junta.

Mr Obama announced a US$170 million aid pledge for Burma, which is also called Myanmar, to build institutions and improve education in the country.

US officials said more aid would be contingent on the government keeping up the pace of reform.

Human Rights groups have criticised the visit, saying Mr Obama should not have gone to Burma until reforms have been consolidated and the government has done more to stop ethnic violence, including against ethnic insurgents in Kachin state.

Speaking earlier in Bangkok, Mr Obama said it was "no accident" that he is making his first foreign trip to Asia after winning re-election, saying the US is a "Pacific nation" and the Asia-Pacific region will be crucial for creating jobs in the US and shaping its security and prosperity.

Analysts say Mr Obama's three-day whirlwind visits to Thailand, Burma and Cambodia aim to reinforce his administration's commitment to deepen economic and security ties to the region to counter China's rising power and influence.

Mr Obama flew late Monday to Cambodia for the East Asian Summit, a forum of 18 world leaders, made up of ASEAN member nations.

The group has been mired in territory disputes, with China a party to some of the biggest stand-offs. China has sought one-on-one negotiations to resolve the disputes with smaller countries with overlapping claims — the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam — and has objected to any effort to bring the problem to regional or international forums like ASEAN.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has arrived in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh for formal talks with ASEAN leaders who agreed on Sunday to tell him they want to begin talks on a binding code of conduct aimed at reducing tensions in the South China Sea.

"They (ASEAN) would like to see the commencement of the discussion as soon as possible because this is an issue of interest, concern and worry of the international community," Mr Pitsuwan said.

Asked about ASEAN's decision, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said consultations with ASEAN nations were on-going and that the issue should not be a "stumbling block" for relations between China and the region.

with agencies

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